Abstract
There is a significant challenge in residential energy efficiency retrofit. Typically, people are incorporated in building modelling work through the standardised occupancy pattern of a typical household. However, there is strong evidence to show that the influence of individual users on domestic energy use is significant. The purpose of this work is to enhance building energy modelling capabilities by incorporating insight into how occupants live in their homes and considering the effectiveness with which heating systems deliver thermal comfort. Energy efficiency measures (EEMs) of thermal insulation and heating controls are compared for three distinct household occupancy patterns; working family, working couple and daytime-present couple. These are compared based on heating energy demand savings and on how well they can deliver thermal comfort using a novel factor, the Heating Comfort Gap (HCG). The model uses engineering building modelling software TRNSYS. The results from this modelling work show that successful reductions in energy consumption depend on the appropriate matching between EEMs and occupancy type. This work will help to improve the accuracy of calculations of energy savings in peoples’ homes which could have significant benefits for policies such as the UK’s Green Deal. It could also progress the tools available for giving tailored advice on how best residential energy use can be reduced.
Marshall, E., Steinberger, J., Foxon, T. and Dupont, V. (2015) Modelling the delivery of residential thermal comfort and energy savings: comparing how occupancy type affects the success of energy efficiency measures In; Gorse, C and Dastbaz, M (Eds.) International SEEDS Conference, 17–18 September 2015, Leeds Beckett University UK, Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society.
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Marshall, E., Steinberger, J., Foxon, T., Dupont, V. (2016). Modelling the Delivery of Residential Thermal Comfort and Energy Savings: Comparing How Occupancy Type Affects the Success of Energy Efficiency Measures. In: Dastbaz, M., Gorse, C. (eds) Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32646-7_22
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